Folding easel



y 30, 1939- A. J. HOUSMAN ET Al. 2,160,457

FOLDING EASEL Filed July 50, 19:57

INVENTOR ALFRED J. HOUSMAN 25 WAYNE S. EVANS ATTORNEY Patented May 30,1939 UNIT-ED s'rArss FOLDING ZEASEL I Alfred J Housman, Hollis, N-. Y.,and Wayne S.

Evans, Philadelphia, Pa., assignors .to National Carbon Company, Inc., acorporation of New York Application July 30, 1937, Serial No. 156,496

9 Claims. (Cl. 125) The object of this invention is to provide an easel,but more particularly in the type which is especially adapted formaintaining in open or extended .position broadly, posters and similardisplay or advertising material especially in the form of flexible websor sheets and supporting said extended display material.

Another object is to providean'easelwhichcan be produced at relativelylow cost, and which shall be light in weight and which can be readilyfashioned from'such pieces of metal, as the channeled ribs commonly usedin the manufacture of umbrellaiframes, 'or wires or rods, of round,oval, tubular, or other type of'curviform cross-section.

A still further object is to provide an easel which can be shipped inthe smallest possible space, and which whendisassembled or folded can beshipped in a-so-called mailing tube of very small diameter and of alengthnot greater than the shortest dimension of'the' display material.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an easel which isrug ged andcapable of supporting sheets or the like of relatively greatweight and area. This embodiment "comprises a triangular base portion,which portion comprises a forward stretcher element which is flexible, aleg element pivotally 'connectedto the forward stretcher element, and abrace element formed of a plurality 'of sections hingedly connected tosaid previously named elements, said base portion having a resilientextension on said forward element which ispreferably pivotally attachedthereto.

These and other objects of our invention will be evident from thefollowing specification when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an easel, illustratingone embodiment of our invention shown in combination with a poster orthe like in the form of a flexible web or sheet operatively supportedthereby.

Fig. 2 is an enlarge-d fragmentary view of the extremity of the easelwhich engages the material to be displayed.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section showing the arrangement whereby each end of theeasel detachably engages a transversely extending stiffening member withwhich the material to be displayed is preferably provided; and I Fig. 5is a side elevational view of the easel in folded and almost completelycollapsed form for storage and shipping purposes.

The easel here shown comprises a substantially triangular basesectionformed of a forwardly positioned element ID, a rearwardlyextending leg element H pivotally secured to said forward element at l2,and a lower substantially horizontally extending spacer element whichcomprises sections .53 and i l, the opposite ends of which are pivotallyconnected at l6 and I1 to said forward and leg elements, respectively,while 'the adjacent end portion of said spacer sections A free *5 arepivotally connected together at l5. end portion 58 of oneof saidsections normally 7 extends over and in contact with the other of saidsections, so as to maintain said sections in normal alignment.

Each of said elements is of channeled crosssection as clearly shown inFig. 3, and they are preferably formed in amanner similar to 'thatemployed in the construction of umbrella frames.

"The lower end 2! of the forward element [0 is preferably flattened soas to engage a transverse- 15 stiffening member 22 secured to the loweredge portion of the normally planarsheet or web23,

"the opposite-end of said sheet or web being provided with atransversely extending stiffening member 24, to which is detachablysecured"a=':20

the upper free projecting portion 28 of the for- Ward element it.Adownwardly projecting portion 29' of said extension element overlapsand normally engages the projection 28 to limit the forward angularmovement of said elementffZB with respect to said lower forward element[0.9.9

'From the position ofthe easel as sh'own'in Fig. 1, it may beflex-ed soas to permit the withdrawal of members 2! syn-(1 25 from thetransverselystiffening extraneous members 22 and 24 respectively, after which thestretcher sectiohsgg I3 and M are folded with respect to each other,

and the extension element 26 is moved angularly rearwardly with respectto the forward base ele- 'ment HL'flrst throughthe intermediate positionindicated by Fig. 5', and then into a totally col-e14 lapsed'structurefor storage, or for inserting the same into a slender mailing tube orthe like,

either alone or with the sheet or Web 23.

'We claim: 7

1. An easel formed of channeled metal pieces, ;-g

' such as those commonly usedin the manufacture of umbrella frames,comprising a generally triangularpbase formed of a front element, a legelement and a sectional spreader element, in comfront element and meansto operatively connect the oppositely directed free end portions of saidfront and extension elements to spaced regions of bination with a fourthelement movably connect-2:5 ed to andnormally forming an extension ofsaid a planarmember; the sections of said sectional g 2. An easelcomprising a generally triangular 60 base formed of a front element, aleg element pivotally connected at its upper end to said front elementand a spreader element comprising a pair of angularly movable sectionspivotally connected together and at their opposite ends being pivotallyconnected to said front and leg elements respectively, a flexibleextension element pivotally attached to the upper portion of said frontelement, and means to limit the relative motion between said front andextension elements in one direction.

3. An easel, comprising a generally triangular base, formed of a frontelement, a leg element pivotally connected at its upper end to saidfront element, said front element extending beyond said pivotalconnection, and a spreader element comprising a pair of angularlymovable sections pivotally connected together and at their opposite endsbeing pivotally connected to said front and leg elements respectively, aflexible extension element pivotally attached to the free end of theextension of said front element, and means to limit the angular movementbetween said front and extension elements.

4. An easel, comprising a generally triangular base formed of a frontelement, a leg element pivotally connected at its upper end to saidfront element, said front element extending beyond said pivotalconnection, and a spreader element comprising a pair of angularlymovable sections pivotally connected together and at their opposite endsbeing pivotally connected to said front and leg elements respectively, aflexible extension element pivotally attached to the free end of theextension of said front element, and means to limit the angular movementbetween said front and extension elements, the oppositely directed endsof said front and extension elements being flattened and adapted todetachably engage transversely extending extraneous members, supportingbetween them a web or sheet.

5. An easel, comprising a generally triangular base formed of a frontelement, a leg element pivotally connected at its upper end to saidfront element, said front element extending beyond said pivotalconnection, and a spreader element comprising a pair of angularlymovable sections pivotally connected together and at their opposite endsbeing pivotally connected to said front and leg elements respectively, aflexible extension element pivotally attached to the free end of theextension of said front element, and means to limit the angular movementbetween said front and extension elements, in combination with aflexible planar element, means to transversely stiffen the upper andlower portions of said lastnamed element, and means to detachablyconnect the oppositely directed ends of said front and extensionelements to said upper and lower stiffening means respectively.

6. A display device, comprising a resilient normally straight element ofcurviform cross-section an extension element also of curviformcrosssection, a pivotal connection between said elements, means carriedby one element and overlapping the other element, to limit the relativemovement between said elements in one direction, a display memberextending between the spaced ends of said elements to hold at least oneof them bowed against said movement limiting means, and means connectedto one of said elements for supporting the same in a substantiallyupright position.

7. A display device, comprising a resilient substantially uprightelement of curviform crosssection, an extension element of curviformcrosssection pivoted thereto, means to normally maintain said elementsin substantially aligned operative relationship, a leg element connectedat its upper end to one of said elements, a folding spreader includingtwo sections pivoted to each other, one of said sections being pivotedto the leg element and the other to the upright element, said legelement, said upright element, said extension element and the sectionsof said spreader being adapted to be folded substantially in parallelismwhen not in use, and a display member extending between the oppositeends of the upright element and the extension element and holding thembowed.

8. An easel for spring tensioning and support-' ing a display sheet ininclined position, said easel comprising a spring element having one endconformed for engagement with one edge of the sheet to be supported, anextension element having one end conformed for engagement with theopposite edge of said sheet, said elements being of substantially equallength, means connecting said elements to provide a bow in use and sothat said elements are collapsible when not in use, the transverse sizeof said means being not greater than substantially that of said elementswhen collapsed, a base element connected to said spring element so thatit is collapsible therewith when not in use to lie within theextremities of said spring element, said elements consisting of lightweight normally rectilinear channeled metal ribs of the type commonlyused in the manufacture of umbrella frames, each element being of U-cross section substantially throughout its length and having spacedparallel side flanges merging into a transversely arched central web,said spring and extension elements being arranged for use with theirflanges disposed substantially at right angles to the display sheet sothat substantially all of the potential reaction spring force of thematerial and section is developed when said spring and extensionelements are bow-sprung out of alignment to bring the outer ends thereof7 toward each other for engagement with opposite edges of the sheet,said reaction spring force being used to tension the sheet and beingremarkably powerful and eifective considering the light weight and smallsize of the channeled ribs constituting such elements, the arrangementbeing such that said elements when collapsed provide a short, compactand light-weight bundle.

9. A display device comprising a resilient normally straight element ofcurviform cross section, a resilient normally straight extension elementalso of curviform cross section, connecting means for collapsing saidelements for shipment, said means comprising means carried by one element and overlapping the other element to limit relative angularmovement between said elements in one direction, a display memberextending between the spaced ends of said elements to hold at least oneof them bowed against said angular movement limiting means, and meansconnected to one of said elements. for supporting the same insubstantially upright position.

ALFRED J. HOUSMAN. WAYNE S. EVANS.

